Syringe attachment



L. DUNN. SYHINGE ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION FILED MAR. l, I9I9.

. "g I IILL'I and the specially constructed syringes haveI :LOUIS DUNN,0F MIN ons. nmirnsor.

SYBmGE ATTACHMENT.

inaasoe.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Application led March 1, 1919. Serial No. 280,084.

To aZZwwm fit/may cofiwem:

Be it known that I, Lours DUNN, a citizen oi the United States, residentot Minneapolis, county of Hennepin, State of Minnesota, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Syringe Attachments, of which thefollowing is a specification.

In surgical operations, when a local anesthetic is applied, diiiicultyisirequently eX- perienced 4with the syringes in general use, if theoperation is one requiring tion of a considerable quantity of anestheticfluid, owing to the fact that the needle through which the fluid isdischarged into the tissues will frequently have to be removed or thesyringe detached -therefrom for the purpose of refilling the syringe.The removal of the needle from the tissues not only involves loss oftime, but 'there is .alf

ways danger that the point ot the needle may become contaminated duringthe' refilling of the syringe and the re-insertion of the needle intothe tissues. Devices,

been madefor ply to the needle, but these are more or less objectionable, owing to the fact that an ordinary syringe cannot beemployed with them,

so many tortuous passages and valves .that it is diicult to keep themclean and ready for use.

One of the principal objects therefore, ot` my invention, is to providea syringe which will permit the injection into the tissues of the fullamount of anestheticluid desired without the necessity ot removing theneedle or detaching the syringe for re-{illing purposes.

A further object is to provide a syringe attachment which can be appliedeasily and quickly to a standard syringe and needle without any specialadaptation orchange in construction.

A further object is to provide a syringe of this type with a glass or'transparent barrel, whereby if the op needle into a vein, this factwill be rshown by blood entering the barrel vwhen the the injecincludingsyringes of special construction, have delivering a continuous superatorgets the pointof the provide against the injection of air bubbles, etc.,into the veins of the patient.

The invention consists generally in various constructions andcombinations, all as hereinafter described and particularly pointedv outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a view, showing my invention applied to a needle andsyringe, ready for use,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through the attachment, showingthepassages thereinand the check valve for preventing flow of the Huidbacky to the Areceptacle,

Fig. 3 is a detail enlarged view, showing the manner of inserting. thepoint of the needle under the skin, or into the tissues of the patient,

Fig. 4 is a detail enlarged view of thev point ofthe needle.

In the drawing, -2 represents the barrel of a syringe, preferably formedof glass or transparent material, such as is in general use in surgicalwork. 3 is a glass plunger, having a ground joint with the barrel butmounted to slide freely therein to lill the barrel or eject the fluidtherefrom. 4 is a finger grip device, preferably mounted on the barrelfor convenience in holding it when in use.l 5 is an ordinary hypodermicneedle having-a passage 6 therein with a compara-v tively sharp point 7which is inserted under the skin or into the tissue to deliver thedesired quantity of anesthetic uid at the oint desired. Thisneedle isreferably o the type in general use, provi ed with an end 8 having a.tapered socket therein adapted to receive-the syringe nozzle whenmounted directly thereon. When Vthe needle is so mounted and thecontents of the syringe barrel discharged, it is necessary to remove theneedle from the tissues and insert it into the iuid or detach the syrine from the needle .to refill the syringe. y invention eliminatesentirely the necessity of such removal or detachment and all danger ofinfection through contact of the point ot the Patented apr. 5, aaai.

syringe piston is drawn back. p

A further object is to provide a syringe attachment of simpleconstruction which can 4be easily ke t clean and may be readily takenapart or examination or repairs.

A further object of the invention is to needle with the lingers of theoperator or with some foreign substance. i

In carrying out my invention, I providea head 10 having-a plug 11 in oneend thereof provided with a tapered socket 12 to .receive the taperedend. of the syringe nozzle 9, 110

' cates through the These parts Will t snugly together and be held bytheir frictional engagement from accidental separation, but may beeasily and quickly pulled apart When the use of the syringe is completedor for any other purpose. These ltapered surfaces may be threaded, ifpreferred, such being an equivalent construction.

The head 10 is provided with a chamber 13 With which the syringenozzlecommuniplug 11, a nipple 14 is fitted intov the other end of the head 10and communicates with the chamber 13 and said head and has a taperedouter end 16 which fits into the tapered socket in the end 8 of theneedle and is held therein by frictional engagement. The head 10 has apassage 17 leading from the chamber 13 to a socket 18, the Walls ofWhich are preferably interiorly threaded to receive a coupling 19 havingan end 20 for connection with a section of hose 21. A valve seat 22 isformed in the end of the coupling and a check valve 23 is provided insaid coupling to allow the liquid to flow through the coupling to thechamber 13 and to prevent the return of the liquid from said chamber.One end of the hose section 21 is adapted to be inserted into a bottleor other receptacle 24 containing ya suitable fluid, and a Weight 25 ispreferably provided on the open end of the hose section to hold it atthe bottom of the fluid receptacle.

In using the device, the head 10 is interposed between -the standardsyringe and standard needle and the needle inserted into the fluid andthe plunger operated until the barrel of the syringe is filled. Thepointed end of the needle is then inserted through the skin or in thetissues, as usual with hypodermic needles. Then the needle is pushedthrough the tissues to be anesthetized and at the same time the plungeris operated to dischargey the fluid. When the syringe is empty, theretraction 0f the plunger Will immediately fill it from the supplyreceptacle through the hose 21, the needle being left in the tissues andthe discharge port in the end of the needle being closed by fluid cannotflow back to the syringe and interfere with t-he refilling of thesyringe barrel from the fluid receptacle. As soon as the syringe hasbeen refilled, the discharging operation may be resumed, the needlebeing moved in the same direction or in a different direction throughthe tissues and the operation of discharging and refilling the s ringecontinued until the desired amount offenes thetic fluid has been used.In this Way I not only save considerable time inpreparing the i patientfor an operation, but avoid the added danger of infecting the patient byrepeated insertion of the needle. With my attachment only one punctureis necessary,

the tissues so that the injected the needle point being kept embeddedand moved about inthe tissues, as long as it is necessary or desirableto obtain the desired anesthetic effect. The'attachment is soconstructed that it can be used very readily with different sizes andstyles` of syringes and needles, the taper of the syringe nozzle socketand the taper of the nipple to enter the socket in the needle adaptingthe device for variations in size. When the work has been completed, thesyringe and needle can be easily and quickly detached from the head andthe parts may then be easily sterilized and made ready for further use.

Byemploying a syringe barrel formed of glass or transparent material,the operator can see that the fluid he is about to inject into the bodyof the patient is free from air bubbles, and if it happens that thepoint of the needle has been inserted into a blood vessel When thepiston is Withdrawn blood will enter the glass syringe barrel and beobservable by the operator.` This Will demonstrate tohim that the pointof the needle isin a blood vessel, and will Warn him to either push theneedle point farther into the tissues or to Withdraw it from the bloodvessel. In this Way the introduction of the anesthetic fluid lnto theblood current directly will be avoided. v

It Will be seen, therefore, that this attachment is particularlyvaluable for use in connection with syringes having glass or transparent barrels, although I do not limit myself to barrels formed of suchmaterial.

While the syringe herein described is particularly adapted for ap lyinglocal anesthetics in surgical Work, Fdo not limit myself to anyparticular purpose for this syringe, but the same may be employedWherever it is desired to inject material hypodermically, or into any ofthe tissues of a patient.

I claim as my invention:

1. Thecombination, with a syringe and a needle having a passagetherethrough and a point for insertion in to the tissues. of a head-having means for mounting the syringe nozzle and the shank of theneedle therein, a passagebeing provided between said nozzle and needlethrough said head, a tube ha'vinrr one end for insertion into a fluidand connected at its other end with said head and means for closing thepassage through s'aid tube to said head when 120 the-syringe plunger isprojected and opening said passage when the plunger is retracted, andsaid syringe having a transparent barrel through the Walls of which thefluid in the syringe is visible and its condition may be determinedWithout withdrawing the needle from the tissues.

' 2. The combination, with a syringe having a transparent barrel andhypodermic needle, of a tube communicating at one end with a source offluid supply and provided with means at its other end for mounting thenozzle of the syringe barrel and the needle therein, a normallyunobstructed passage being provided between said syringe nozzle and saidneedle, means mounted toopen the passage between said fluid supply andsaid syringe when the syringe is operated, the transparent syringebarrel enabling the user to determine the condition of the fluid and theposition of the needle in the tissues.

its other end with said head, and a valve which opens and closes whenthe vsyringe is operated.

4. The combination with a rigid transparent syringe, a head and aneedle, rigidly but detachably connected and having an unobstructedpassage therethrough whereby the syringe may serve as a handle for theinsertion of the needle into tissue and the parts may be readilyseparated for cleaning, and a tube having one end for insertion into aiiuid and connected at its other end with said head, and a valve which`opens when the syringe plunger is retracted and closes when it isadvanced, whereby the material in the syringe may be inspected and thesyringe repeatedly operated without withdrawing it from the tissue.

5. The combination, with a syringe and a needle having a passagetherethrough and a point for insertion into the tissues, of a headhaving sockets therein to receive the syringe nozzle and the shank ofsaid needle there being an unobstructed communicating passage betweensaid syringe and needle, said head having a coupling and a check valvetherein and a port leading from said valve to said syringe and needle, atube mounted on said coupling and having an end for insertion into afluid, the retraction of said plunger when the point of said needle isclosed opening said check valve automatically and filling the syringefrom said fluid' supply and the projection of said plunger closing saidvalve and discharging vcally the fluid through said unobstructed passageto said needle.

6. The combination with a syringe having a nozzle thereon, of a headhaving a socket to receive said nozzle and a chamber in said headcommunicating with the passage through said nozzle, a coupling mountedon one side of said head and having a passage therethrough leading tosaid chamber and afiexible hose leading from said coupling to a sourceof liquid supply, a nipple mounted in said head and fitting the socketin a hypodermic needle and having a passage therethrough communicatingwith the chamber in said head, the nippleof said head, when insertedinto the socket of the needle, forming a close joint therewith, a valvemounted in said coupling and normally closing the passage therethrough,said valve being mounted to open when suction is applied to saidchamber'by the retraction of said syringe plunger to fill said syringewith liquid, the retraction of the plunger after the needle has beeninserted into the tissues operating to open said valve and fill saidsyringe and the torward movement of said plunger operating to close saidvalve and project the liquid in the syringe through the passage in saidnipple.

, 7. The combination, with a syringel and needle having a passagetherethrough and a point for insertion into the tissues, of a head, 'achamber formed in the head and having openings extending from thechamber through the head and providing oppositely disposed socketsextending from below the top of the chamber to receivethe syringe nozzleand the Shank of the needle whereby air bubbles may he trapped in theupper part of the chamber, there being an unobstructed communicatingpassage between the syringe and needle. point,means providingcommunication between said passage and a fiuid source and anautomaticcheck valve interposed in said communieating means to permit the fluidto pass only in a. direction from said source to said4Q passage, wherebywhen the needle point is'closed by insertion into the tissues,retraction of the syringe plunger automatiopens the check valve andfills the syringe from the fluid source vand projection of the plungerautomatically closes the valve and forces the fluid through saidunobstructed passage into the tissues.

ln witness whereof, have hereunto set my hand this 23d vday of February,1919.

LOUIS DUNN, M. D.

